Longtime
Fugitive Pleads Guilty to Defrauding Investors
of Over $1 Million More Than 15 Years
Ago in New JerseyDouglas D’Arpino
fled after 1997 indictment, but was arrested
in Las Vegas in 2010

TRENTON
– Attorney General Paula T. Dow and
Criminal Justice Director Stephen J. Taylor
announced that a con man who eluded authorities
for 13 years before his arrest last June
in Las Vegas pleaded guilty today to conspiring
with a business partner to defraud investors
in New Jersey of more than $1 million in
the early 1990s.

According
to Director Taylor, Douglas D’Arpino,
64, formerly of New York, N.Y., pleaded
guilty to a second-degree charge of conspiracy
before Superior Court Judge Eugene H. Austin
in Bergen County. Under the plea agreement,
D’Arpino faces a sentence of up to
five years in state prison. He must pay
restitution of approximately $510,000, representing
his share of the funds stolen by him and
his partner, R. Steven Stackpole. Stackpole,
71, was sentenced to six years in state
prison in 1998 in connection with the scheme.

Deputy
Attorney General Francine S. Ehrenberg took
the guilty plea for the Division of Criminal
Justice Major Crimes Bureau. D’Arpino
and Stackpole were indicted in 1997 as a
result of an investigation by the Division
of Criminal Justice. The investigation was
led by Lt. John Jespersen and former Supervising
Deputy Attorney General Rodger Wolf.

Stackpole
formerly operated an investment and insurance
company called Stackpole Designs Agency
in River Edge, Bergen County. The state
investigation revealed that between 1989
and 1994, Stackpole conspired with D’Arpino
to get clients of his company who had retirement
and investment accounts to invest a total
of approximately $1.9 million in various
fraudulent schemes. One scheme involved
“wishing wells” that the defendants
claimed would be placed in malls to collect
money for a charity that published information
about missing children. A number of wishing
wells were placed in businesses, but no
money was provided to the charity.

D’Arpino
and Stackpole promised a 15 percent rate
of return to investors. In reality, they
charged investors undisclosed fees of up
to 20 percent and diverted investors funds
for their personal use. Of the $1.9 million
in invested funds, approximately $500,000
was returned to investors as “dividends.”
The remaining $1.4 million was stolen. Some
investors lost their life savings. The investors
included several firefighter associations.

Judge
Austin scheduled sentencing for D’Arpino
for Feb. 18. D’Arpino, who had been
using the alias Paul D. Martin, surrendered
to authorities in Las Vegas on June 10,
2010.